Bass Fishing photo
SHARE
A lone dock on a lake bluff
Lone docks on lake bluffs are great spots to look for bass on warm winter days. Flickr Creative Commons

The weather has been uncharacteristically warm where I live in North Carolina, and it seems to be trending that way in much of the country. Naturally, when that odd winter warm day presents itself, everyone wants to get on the water. You should, but just keep in mind that when the weather gets super hot, it doesn’t mean the fishing automatically heats up as well. Just like you understand that a warm spell is temporary, so do the bass, because while the air and water may heat a bit, the days aren’t getting any longer, and that’s the true trigger that pushes bass out of winter mode. So when that warm day does present itself, take advantage, and maximize the opportunity by fishing fish these five spots.

Large Laydowns Extending Into Deep Water These act as quick highways to the shallows. The best ones are on steep banks with rock. A hungry and curious bass may head to the shallow trunk of the tree near the bank, but most will just hover in a mellow state out by the deep limbs.

Big Tops On Standing Timber Not all standing timber is the same during winter warm spells. Look for the largest loner tops over deep water. They may only be big enough to hold one fish, but it will likely be a monster

High Stumps Or Tall Rocks Near Deep Water Sticking with the elevation theme, if you know areas where certain repetitive structure exists near deep water, then look for the highest piece and find a way to run a lure by it. In these situations I try to visualize the bottom like looking at a city skyline from an airplane. The biggest bass in that vast area will seek out that highest skyscraper in order to be closest to the warmth.

Lone Dock On Bluffs The bass that comes up for a suntan sometimes needs a little shade to withstand the rapid change in light, but it still wants to be near warm surface temps. For the bass that lives somewhere in the depths of the bluff wall all winter, the lone dock is a paradise during warm spells.

Structure At The Mouth Of A Canal That structure can be any of the aforementioned structures, or it could be something entirely oddball. I’ve caught big winter warm-spell bass around everything from a big buoy, to a moored sailboat, to a community boat ramp dock that touched deep water near the canal mouth. The key is focusing on the mouth of the canal, as bass shouldn’t be even remotely ready to commit to moving far back into a canal yet.